China's Zoomlion drops bid for US crane maker Terex

HONG KONG (AP) — Chinese heavy equipment maker Zoomlion said Friday it's abandoning its takeover bid for U.S. crane maker Terex because it failed to reach a deal after months of talks.

Zoomlion, which made its unsolicited offer at the start of the year, said in a filing Friday to the Hong Kong stock exchange that "no agreement can be made on the crucial terms" so it decided to terminate its offer.

The company added that the two sides had made "joint efforts to closely negotiate" over the proposal that valued Terex at $3.3 billion.

The announcement ends a complicated mating dance that began last August when Westport, Connecticut-based Terex Corp. and Finnish rival Konecranes said they planned to merge.

Zoomlion Heavy Industry Science and Technology Co., based in the central Chinese city of Changsha, stepped in with its own offer in late January and sweetened it by $1, to $31 a share, two months later.

Then, in mid-May, Terex, which also makes aerial platforms and construction material processing equipment, said it was pulling out of the proposed merger and planned instead to sell its crane business to Konecranes for $1.3 billion in cash and stock, adding pressure on Zoomlion to complete the deal.

Chinese firms have been scooping up companies overseas as they spend their cash hoard on foreign technology to bolster their competitive positions at home, though there have been occasional hiccups. In another recent aborted deal, Chinese insurer Anbang lost out to Marriott International's winning bid for Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide.